Around the world without a plane

In the age of aviation, there is nothing easier than to be able to retrace the footsteps of Phileas Fogg in "Around the World in 80 days". And if we could not use the plane,we could still go around the world? Apparently it seems a trend back in fashion again, read for example this itinerary: "perfect" for the summer season.

You could start with a train from Rome to reach Venice in three and a half hours. In the lagoon city there are the coaches, equipped with couchettes, headed to Budapest. Leaving at 21.20 we arrive in the Hungarian capital, the next day at 10.54. In Budapest there is a bit to wait for the Russian railway sleeping car to Moscow, which leaves at 18.40 and arrives in the capital red after two days of travel in the morning at 9.55 am. At this point the most challenging railway experience begins: we take the Trans-Mongolian Express which runs from Moscow to Beijing in six days. It leaves Europe, coming into Asia, after three days and 1.105 miles. Then the Express goes to the south, stopping in Ulan Bator, the capital of Mongolia, and on the sixth day it reaches Beijing.

With a chinese high-speed trains, it is easy to reach a port such as HongKong or Shangai. And here we face the most uncertain step of the trip, because we must jump on a container transporter which is en route to San Francisco. The trip in the north Pacific on a cargo ship takes 18 to 20 days. Arrived in front of the Golden Gate, we meet the trains again, those of the u.s. state company Amtrak. You can take the historic California Zephyr, linked to the conquest of the West, which in less than three days reaches Chicago. From here continue with the Lake Shore Limited, which in about 20 hours reaches New York. And on the Hudson, we meet the last ocean liner, the Queen Mary II, which in seven days reaches the English port of Southampton.

The end of the way around the world is on rails again: Southampton-London with a local train, from London to Paris by the Eurostar which runs under the English Channel, and Paris-Rome by night train.